Asian sex gang member to appeal against conviction, claiming jury was in contact with BNP

One of nine men jailed as part of a child sex ring is to appeal against his
conviction on the grounds that the jury was in contact with the far-right
British National Party during its deliberations.

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

3:00PM BST 09 May 2012

Alias Yousaf, the solicitor of Adil Khan, said there had been attempts by right-wing groups to influence the trial “from the outset”.

On May 3, while the jury was still deliberating on its verdicts, Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, tweeted: “Newsflash: Seven of the Muslim paedophile ring found guilty in Liverpool.”

A far-right organisation called the Infidels of Great Britain also reported on its website that seven defendants had been found guilty.

The judge at Liverpool Crown Court was made aware of this and made inquiries of the jury, which had indeed reached guilty verdicts on seven of 11 defendants on trial, though no-one outside the jury room should have known that. The judge decided not to abandon the trial.

Mr Yousaf said: “It is of great concern that the chairman of the British National Party appeared to have been aware of the verdicts before they were even communicated to the court.

“We are left with no option but to conclude that the confidentiality of the jury’s deliberations must have been breached and we submit the proper inference should be drawn that there must have been improper communication from within the jury room to Nick Griffin and perhaps others.”

He said the jury’s impartiality, which is “the cornerstone of any fair trial” may have been compromised and he was launching an appeal on those grounds.

Khan, 42, who made a 13-year-old girl pregnant, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under 16, and eight years, to run concurrently, for trafficking girls for sexual exploitation.